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[CLKD]

If you are building from new triple glazing may be possible.  We had our glazing replaced 5 years ago but the 1968 property doesn't have the footings nor lintels to hold the extra weight of glazing plus frames.  So double glazing it was, with curtains.

Grey water collection is a Law in Europe from the 1990s, but our Government never instigated it!  And they continue to talk about going green  . 

One huge estate in our area was built in the early 1990s, supposedly totally green: grey water collection, solar panels, treble glazing - but no one took responsibility for the pumps when they failed; so the grey water collection couldn't be utilised.  Obviously not thought through B4 the Plans were Signed off.  Prince Charles opened the Complex ......

One needs back up however green we try to be.  Generators are often rely on oil but are useful when all else fails.  They can be noisy!  Light bulbs are improving all the while.  What we need are better recycling schemes for house hold items. Lithium batteries can be recycled but that costs time, energy and space to convert them. 

I've had a large ice block down my back for 4 hours.  Sooooo cooling.  By Friday it will probably be cardies and slippers.  Rain is headed West to North.

Fires breaking out all over England, particularly dangerous near the Capital with risk of animal and human Life in Kent 

[Lyncola]

The portable air conditioner that has the tube out the window, you can get it here in Australia, but you don’t see many houses that have them.
The way to go in Australia is the spilt air conditioning system, where hangs in on the wall, until sits outside. Very fun to install, my husband use to be a air conditioner technician, with all the big public buildings, shops etc.  So the first house we had he install and I was his assistant 
Those days are gone we now pay to have them install. Maybe that will be the way of the future for UK as they cool as well as heat. And the cost is low, my hubby says are little bedroom unit wouldn’t cost more then a fridge to run.
On a bad summer running three air conditioning units for hot days for a good three months only puts the bill up $200.
And we just payed off the solar panels on the roof so now we don’t get a bill.

[Katherine]

I actually considered getting air con during this heatwave. It was only 27 degrees in my house but I found it really hard to tolerate and had to have the fan on me all the time. The thing that put me off was the hose out of the window, sealing it off, etc. It sounds like a big hassle so I'm sticking with my trusty fan for now.

[ATB]

Yes I struggled yesterday and last night with the stuffy heat, found it hard not to get super anxious and we had a fan on all night. I hope we don’t get any more weather like that this year. The house was horribly hot this morning.

[JoJo42]

I’m definitely looking at ac now after having a bout of what I think must have been heat exhaustion yesterday. I’ve stayed indoors for the last two days with my air coolers and fans going all over the house and keeping hydrated but still ended up outside on the patio at 5am in the cooler air, being sick. Temperature has dropped drastically today and there is a breeze but I still feel weak and dizzy every time I stand up or do a bit of housework. I’m praying we don’t get any more heatwave weather too ATB.

[ATB]

Sorry to hear you were so unwell, I’m very sensitive to heat and was also up early outside both days and today! It’s awful. We couldn’t let our injured car out so couldn’t even open windows on the north side for air. I’m grateful it was 2 days only so far but I think I need to prepare for more summers where that happens. I was paranoid about fires too, my anxiety running away with me.

[JoJo42]

Thank you ATB. It’s been a really long two days…felt like it would never end! Like you, I’ve been thinking about preparing for the future too - someone said on the news yesterday that there would be a possibility of a heatwave every three years but I think it’s more likely going to be sometime every year. I was also worried about fires. It’s very scary to see the news and what’s happening.

[Katherine]

I couldn't sleep for long either and felt nauseous towards the end of it, I also felt anxious and even cried at one point! Yet a few years ago I was living in a top floor flat with temps of 30 in the summer carrying on as normal. But the past 2 days I've been entirely focused on staying cool and keeping my cat cool. My partner has been surprised at how anxious I've been. So glad its over for now. I think I will end up with ac at some point.

[ATB]

Sorry to hear you suffered too Katherine. I’ve had massive improvements in anxiety recently so I was a little frustrated that I was experiencing such a hard time, I found that using the headspace short videos on sleep really really helped. But the fire thing was hard to not think about, we are surrounded by trees and fields and far from emergency services so it was a concern. My cat was also stressing me as he could lose his eye if it got bad with the heat and it’s sadly still quite swollen and in need of further treatment. I feel like I’m really good as long as I don’t have several things to worry about at once, I used to be able to handle that but I still get easily overwhelmed. So I think I can understand how you feel too. It’s annoying isn’t it? To not feel like you can handle life like you used to.

[JoJo42]

Sorry about you cat. That must be such a worry. I worried about keeping my dog cool and making sure my husband was ok with his copd and diabetes and I think all that contributed to my heat exhaustion as I was running around making sure everyone else was ok all day when i should have been taking it easy and not worrying - just like them! Sometimes I think I worry so much it turns the universe i to some kind of giant worry machine that generates more issues! I hope your cat is ok, sending lots of love from me and my dog, although I think I must give off cat-woman vibes as the local cats keep trying to get in through my living room window! One just jumped right through onto the windowsill.

[ATB]

Well, cats flocking to you is a very good sign, they only do that to the very best of people 

Thank you, my darling rescue boy is inside now after finally being allowed out for a run around his huge garden here and hopefully we see some improvement in the next 5 days. I hope your dog didn’t suffer too much in the heat. I really want to rescue a couple of dogs when we are no longer renting.
You’re right, that’s the thing about anxiety is it consumes us and gets bigger and harder to manage. My therapist always talks to me about small steps, small accomplishments and trying not to avoid things that I’m fearful of or they just get bigger. That helps me a lot, but the general anxiety I get now when overwhelmed is harder to manage. I’m just learning about Yoganidra and mindfulness hoping that helps. My husband is an extremely calm person, and practices mindfulness daily. My therapist said that’s why he’s calm, he works at it every day. So I’m trying to adopt his habits! He always says to me, just sit, look out the window and ‘just be’ in that moment. It sounds foreign to me but I’m willing to give it a try!

[JoJo42]

A few days ago when I walked home there was a cat sitting at the top of every single small side road on the estate…watching me as I walked past. It was very weird, like I’d walked into another strange Big Brother dimension, controlled by cats! Glad your cat was able to get out for a run around. My dog was fine all through the heatwave. I kept her inside apart from toilet breaks and she just chilled out in the hallway where it stayed pretty cool on the tiled floors. I put her cool mat down as well and misted her with cool water from a spray bottle and put ice cubes in her water. I think she loved all the attention! Lay there like a diva, being misted on her belly and paws!! Anxiety is draining. Sounds like you are doing well and trying to find things to help. My husband is totally laid back about everything and doesn’t worry about a thing. Funny thing is that he just goes with the flow and despite a bit of bother everything always turns out ok in the end anyway. I think there’s a lesson for me there too! Plus, I’m learning to step back from taking on other people’s stuff…if they’re not worrying then I’m not worrying either. My husband recently forgot to order some of his meds and left it to the last minute normally I would fly into hyper-panic and go into Operation Sort-it-out mode, but this time I kept my mouth shut, sat back, let it all unfold and let him deal with it which he did fine without any worry or chaos. Felt good.

[ATB]

Oh I like and relate to that, sort-it-all-out mode, I have been like that since I was little living with volatile violent parents. Watching, alert, ready to sort things. You’re right in we could learn lessons from those around us who take a more chill approach.

[JoJo42]

That is my experience too!! My parents were both violent and volatile! My dad was an alcoholic and my mother has a personality disorder. I’ve been estranged from my mother for a few years - she discarded me and I’m very glad about that, although she has been sending a few cryptic message via a family friend, so I’ve told my friend I don’t want to know anything about any conversations she’s had with my mother or any other members of my family.

[ATB]

Gosh we are quite similar then! Even our response and way we now deal with stress is similar huh. My mum is a narcissist, I live very far away from my crazy family for a reason! Families!
I’m learning through therapy that I’ve developed this way of always being alert, all senses being alert at all times, because of the kind of childhood I had. We later lived with my very sick grandparent and we had to worry all the time she might die as we cared for her. So I’ve been worrying a long long time and it’s hard to stop! Menopause just kind of was the thing that pushed me over from coping, to not. HRT has given me the strength to address this issue and already I’m soooo much better, I have total faith I can live a much more relaxed carefree life. Before I didn’t think I ever would.